Your First Thirty Seconds - How to Write an Opening

First Impressions Count

Recruitment experts always say, 'When you go for an interview, the interviewer will form an opinion about you in the first thirty seconds'.

Readers do the same sort of thing when faced with a piece of writing. There are so many things to read these days - articles, stories, writing in magazines, newspapers, books, the internet - that your readers have plenty of reading matter to choose from and not enough time to read it all.

So when you're starting off a piece, you need to make sure that your opening will grab your reader's attention and make him want to read on.

The Hook

Writers have a special name for this. It's called the hook. Just as a fisherman doesn't want to sit at the riverbank all day and go home empty handed, the writer also needs to catch his readers and keep hold of them.

How to Create a Catchy Hook

So how are you going to write an effective hook for your story or article? What sort of bait are you going to use? Here are a few suggestions:

• Start with a question to get your reader thinking
• Use direct speech to make your opening immediate
• Refer to something topical, then tie it in with the subject of the piece
• Say something surprising
• Be controversial
• Start with an honest, personal observation then open it out
• Begin with an anecdote that is funny or memorable

Discover for Yourself

When you read anything in the coming week, whether it's an article in a newspaper or magazine or a novel, you could take a special look at the opening. Ask yourself what technique the writer has used to hook his readers. Perhaps you could even jot down in a notebook what they did and start your own little collection of effective openings?

Think back to your favourite books or to stories or articles that have lingered in your memory. Can you remember how you felt when you began to read them? Did the opening make you curious? Was it striking? Did you identify with what the writer was saying or feeling?

How about when you looked at this post? Can you remember how it started? What did I do to catch your attention at the beginning?

If you're feeling ambitious, maybe you could write an opening paragraph yourself and try to incorporate a hook? If you like what you've written, you can share it with us by writing it as a comment. Tell us why you think it works.